Does nonviolent resistance work? What Chenoweth and Stephan get right (Part 1b)

Second in a series by guest author Ian Hansen

This is a continuation of Part 1 of a four-part series: Does nonviolent resistance work?

  • Part 1: What Chenoweth and Stephan get right (also see Parts 1a1c2a2b and 2c)

The short video at the beginning of this post features Maria Stephan and Erica Chenoweth, 2013 winners of the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order for their book Why Civil Resistance Works—a thesis that is not surprisingly under debate.

In defense of Stephan and Chenoweth’s argument that the Otpor Revolution in Serbia and the No! movement in Chile are strong examples of the power of civil resistance, I am actually quite impressed with how the U.S. provided support to these movements without either (a) accidentally tarring those they supported as American stooges or (b) accidentally undermining American interests in the targeted countries.

The Otpor revolution is one of the more inspiring moments of world history—overthrowing a genocidal dictator with a nationwide nonviolent campaign. The U.S. deserves to bask somewhat in the moral glow of that operation, though its assistance was financially miniscule by the standards of foreign aid and the vast majority of the credit for the revolution goes to the Serbian people.

Moreover, supporting the No! campaign against Pinochet was a brilliant way of covering the tracks of U.S. involvement in the coup that put Pinochet in power in the first place, allowing him and his class to rape a nation for a decade and half.

By 1988, the damage Pinochet had done to Chile was very hard to reverse and there was no prospect of returning to the open horizon of possible societal change that the assassinated democratically-elected president Salvador Allende had enjoyed. The U.S. could thus afford to stand beside those who fought that Quixotic-looking but ultimately successful campaign against Pinochet, and by doing so could also bargain for some continued influence in the economic structuring of post-Pinochet Chile.

Clearly, there is something creepy about an ultraviolent hyperpower basking in the moral glow of nonviolent revolutions against scummy genocidal dictators (including ones they once put in power), but in general I think that imperialism that makes liberal use of nonviolence is probably better for all involved than imperialism that does not.

Ian Hansen, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at York College, City University of New York. His research focuses in part on how witness for human rights and peace can transcend explicit political ideology. He is also on the Steering Committee for Psychologists for Social Responsibility.

Peace of mind, piece of heart

By guest author Luciana Karine de Souza

When we hear about peace we typically think of wars, violence, terrorism, and such, but psychologists, philosophers, and others also pursue understanding of the factors leading to and endangering peace of mind.

Kiss nightclub fire location
Santa Maria nightclub fire location. © OpenStreetMap contributors. Data available under the Open Database License; cartography is licensed as CC-BY-SA. See http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright.

I live approximately 286 km (177 miles) from the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, scene of the tragic nightclub fire that killed over 200 people in January. I know the city and I know the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM).

Most of the victims of the fire were from UFSM. They were there in mid-summer (temperatures near 104F) because for many months last year, professors had gone on strike for better career plans and salary.

Thus many victims were in Santa Maria taking classes, studying, and preparing themselves for a future they will never have.

Should I feel relief at not knowing anyone related to this catastrophe? Should I sigh and thank the Universe that it did not affect anyone I know? Should I be thankful for life, and family, and friends, and all things good I still have, none of them affected?

For many like me, happiness at being spared does not happen. After such a tragedy, it is very, very difficult to find peace of mind. The mind “feels” strong energy waves throughout the day, waves filled of lifting souls asking why, why do we close our eyes to the need to prevent such tragedies.

For now it is very hard to find peace of mind, mostly because anyone who felt in any way connected to what happened in Santa Maria lost a piece of their hearts.

Every day around the world, people die dreadful deaths, preventable deaths, and the people touched by these deaths lose a piece of their hearts and their peace of mind.

Why do we still believe we can beat death, fire, and terror, and ignore laws and regulations, investment in prevention, safety measures, and so on? And when will we learn that all lives matter?

Luciana Karine de Souza is a full professor at Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Her teaching and research involves personality and social development in psychology, education and leisure.